1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid jet head for discharging liquid such as ink to perform recording and a method for manufacturing the liquid jet head.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 12A illustrates a top view of a liquid jet head discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-198937. FIG. 12B illustrates a cross section taken along line A-A of the liquid jet head illustrated in FIG. 12A.
In FIGS. 12A and 12B, a recording element substrate 100 is provided with an energy generating element that generates discharge energy to discharge ink from a discharge port 101 and a supply port from which ink is supplied to the energy generating element. The recording element substrate 100 is bonded to a support substrate 130 with an adhesive or the like. A wiring substrate 110 is formed on the support substrate to electrically connect the recording element substrate 100 to an ink jet printer main body. The wiring substrate 110 is bonded to the support substrate 130 with an adhesive or the like along with the recording element substrate 100 and connected to electrical contacts of the recording element substrate 100 by bonding or the like. The wiring substrate 110 is provided with a device hole 115 which is an opening for exposing the recording element substrate 100 to the outside.
Generally, Si is used for the recording element substrate 100, and it is known that a sealing member is applied on an area between a side end surface of the wiring substrate and a side end surface of the recording element substrate inside the device hole to prevent the Si from being corroded by ink (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-198937).
The sealing member is applied by injecting a thermosetting sealing member in a liquid state between the side end surface of the wiring substrate 110 and the side end surface of the recording element substrate 100 inside the device hole 115 by using a needle and thermally curing the sealing member. When the sealing member is injected by inserting the top end of the needle into an area between the side end surface of the wiring substrate 110 and the side end surface of the recording element substrate 100, it is possible to reduce an amount of the sealing member in a liquid state that overflows onto the surface of the wiring substrate 110 or the surface of the recording element substrate 100.
These days, request for further downsizing and cost-cutting of a liquid discharge head has increased. To downsize a recording head, reducing the size of the wiring substrate 110 is one of effective measures. To reduce the size of the wiring substrate while maintaining the number of wirings formed in the wiring substrate and the arrangement density of the wirings, it is effective to reduce a gap between the side end surface of the wiring substrate that forms a device hole and the side end surface of the recording element substrate by reducing the size of the device hole of the wiring substrate. In this case, when injecting the sealing member, it is impossible to insert the top end of the needle that injects the sealing member between the side end surface of the wiring substrate and the side end surface of the recording element substrate, so that it is difficult to inject the sealing member. There is a method in which a thinner needle is used to inject the sealing member to insert the needle into a sealing area. However, when using a thin needle, an amount of sealing member that is injected per time reduces, so that it takes time to apply the sealing member and takt time increases. Thus, this is not preferable. Further, when using a thin needle, it is difficult to apply a sealing member having a high viscosity, so that selection of the type of sealing member is limited.